aging – Colleen Keller Breuning

Cool Blue Water

Cool Blue Water

Hope springs eternal in my heart
Ever ready for a fresh start
A place for dreams and reverie
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Give me the splendid silent sun
As bees and flowers come undone
Running through fields of green, so free
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Drifting down in the aqueduct
I vow my life to reconstruct
I accept time absolutely
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Hope springs eternal in my heart,
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
January 28, 2023

Hello! A late post again, and y’all know why….. Work, work, work! That’s all I do! You know the old saying. The overtime at work has been crazy this month, and I’ve barely had time for anything else. There is so much for us to push out in the month of January it is insane. I’ve been logging 20-30 hours of OT every week this month. I think I already wrote that last week. But just THREE MORE DAYS until things ease up. We are an amazing team, we’ve got this. *BREATHE DEEP*

I have gotten so much done and learned so much this past month. I really love my work, and definitely enjoy serving our clients at my accounting firm. It has been such a tremendous experience! But you know the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull, dull boy.” (I think that is from The Shining, one of the best movies!) Yes, that’s kind of how I feel this month. DULL, lol. Dan and I are both so busy that we have not done one social thing all month – except go to a holiday work event, which was very nice indeed! I have worked every single day, including weekends, this month except New Year’s Day. The overtime pay has been nice, but I’m ready to at least get my weekends back.

I started writing this last Sunday, but then got super busy and did not get back to it until this evening. I really miss writing more often and especially reading my fellow blogger’s blogs. I feel guilty about that, even though they probably understand – if not, please bear with me during this season. I miss photography. I miss going to a winery on weekends. I miss seeing my family and friends. I miss Face Timing with the grandkids more.

But it’s all good. Life is good. I actually have two outings planned for next weekend – woo hoo! I don’t really have anything else to say. I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and hope you stay warm. Sending love to y’all.

xoxo Colleen

Mood: Sleepy
Inspiration: “The Water Diviner” by Ludovico Einaudi

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 30.14 Topic: Hope Springs Eternal
Hard Bonus: Use a line or quote by Walt Whitman (“Give me the splendid silent sun” and “I accept time absolutely”)
Easy Bonus: Include an aqueduct

Light Fading

Light Fading

Twilight is falling,
autumn breeze blowing.
Past the honeysuckle bushes,
my tired feet are slowing.

My breath comes in gasps
under periwinkle skies.
Can you see the light fading
when you look into my eyes?

Is this how it will go
when we get to the end?
Will you take one last glimpse
and let my spirit ascend?

Will you hold me and dance
beneath the amber moon?
Or kiss my lips tender
as the wayward geese swoon?

I’m grasping onto moments
like the free-falling sand.
Can you see time slipping through
my pale weathered hands?

Now the wind pushes onward
and like a willow, I bend.
As I grow ever weaker,
will you hold me til the end?

Then search for my light
in the field of white stars.
Speak to me nightly
as I watch from afar.

Tuck away our memories
and forget them, never.
My spirit glows in your heart,
for my love is forever.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
August 21, 2022

I wrote this about a month ago and tweaked it today, on my Dad’s 88^th heavenly birthday. As I get older and closer to the age he was when he died back in 2002, I can only imagine how sad he must have felt in his final months. I am sure he wanted to hold onto all of us for as long as he possibly could, despite his pain… It made me ponder and think of how I would feel, if I knew that my time was ending soon. How much I would miss my sweet husband, my children, my grandchildren, and my family and friends! Not wanting to cause pain, but knowing they would be devastated after I was gone. It also provides some insight and a reminder that we should live every single day to the fullest, and be grateful for those in our lives. We never know how much time we have left on this Earth.

Not trying to be melancholy, but sometimes my mind goes to these places and this is how I deal with it. My poetry is my refuge, my comfort, my way to deal with overwhelming emotions. I share it so that you can take from it what you want, and to feel whatever emotion the words might dredge up inside your soul. I wish you all peace, love and pray that you continue to make happy memories and cherish your loved ones. I know I certainly will!

xoxo Colleen

Inspiration: Moby “Everloving”
Mood: Thoughtful

Perfectly Flawed

Perfectly Flawed

Paper thin
pale porcelain skin
aching bones upon the wake.

Sullen dawn
a hole in the clouds
and I’m thinking I might break.

Dark sky bursts
rain pelting, melting
glacial heart that never thawed.

Fragile soul
bleeding wounds that healed
and I am perfectly flawed.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
July 30, 2022

Mood: Grateful
Inspiration: “Porcelain” by Moby (my ringtone)

Black Swan

Black Swan

See her glide across liquid fields of blue,
The shape of water morphing in her tracks.
Through dappled clouds, bright rays of light shine through
As dewdrops glisten on her feathered back.

Dark silhouette, epitome of grace,
She shadow dances from dusk until dawn.
A sweet ballet, accolades to embrace:
Proud moments in the life of a black swan.

But seasons in the sun fade too quickly;
Youth and beauty were never meant to last.
Your essence lingers in my memory,
Until the final curtain call is cast.

Good night darling, in morning may you wake
From golden slumbers on this pristine lake.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
May 8, 2021

I wrote this Shakespearean sonnet after being inspired by the beautiful Swan Lake Theme by Tchaikovsy. This musical piece brings back such wonderful childhood memories of listening to vinyl records with my Dad and my Mom …. we all loved Tchaikovsky music!! Where does the time go? *happy tears*

Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms out there! Sending love and peace!
xoxo Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 8.14 Topic: A Proud Moment
Hard Bonus (2 points): Incorporate 2 Beatles Song Titles (Golden Slumbers, Good Night)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Mention an Oscar Winning Movie (The Shape of Water, Black Swan)

SECRET BONUS PHRASES:

Seasons in the sun (in blog)
Silhouette (in blog)
Shadow Dancing (in blog)
Jumping for Joy
Sunset
Leap of faith
Forever Young
Tumbling
School’s out for summer
Greeting dawn with open arms

Topic: Tyler Pic: Irene

Never What You See

Never What You See

Twilight comes early in November cold

the migrant geese cry and stake their claim

as I walk in my solitary world

where darkness rules and light is scarce

and loneliness adds beauty to life.

I have been restless for as long as I can remember

but there is change in the air

there is change in the wind

fear stirs the stagnant spirit, propels it forward

and the echo of music strikes a chord deep inside.

Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue,

and broken bones eventually heal

we cross the threshold from young to old

masking the hurt, numbing the pain

but silence is not golden.

So don’t jump to conclusions about the sunset

its stark light refracting beneath cover of clouds

hidden bruises bleeding broken indigo ink

in beautiful streaks of mottled red and purple

and taints the sky with mixed emotions.

The truth is never what you see.

November 10, 2015